There For Me
by xxActressgirlxx
Summary: Clare's parents finally make a decision. Darcy returns home to help out her mom. Through all the changes Clare has to endure who will be there to help her through it all? Only her two best friends Eli and Adam. Might become Eli/Clare.
1. Chapter 1

I couldn't comprehend this. The words my mother was speaking. I knew it was bad, but I thought it would get better. I figured everything would blow over. Well I guess not.

I came downstairs this morning to find my mom on the phone with an unknown person, to me, and the first words I heard were, "Okay call me when you land sweetie." I was curious to who she was talking to. Were we having relatives coming that I was unaware of? No, all our relatives live in driving distance. I walked into the kitchen and sat down at the table in front of a plate of scrambled eggs and bacon my mom had made for me.

"Who was that?" I asked. She turned around.

"Huh?" She answered. She probably didn't realize I heard her on the phone.

"On the phone. Who were you talking to?" I asked picking up the fork and taking a bite of the eggs. She stared at me for a couple seconds, obviously debating if she was going to tell me or not.

"Oh um. Look Clare I was going to tell you after school, but-" She paused and looked down. Her face showed she was upset about something.

"Mom what's wrong?" I was getting worried. Who was on the phone? What had happened?

"Your father and I are getting divorced." I was shocked.

"Wh-What?"

"I'm sorry Clare, but we came to the decision last night when you were sleeping."_ I wasn't sleeping,_ was all I could think. I was lying in bed listening to them argue until I remembered Eli's headphones. I fell asleep crying with them on. This is what they were talking about when I was cancelling it out? This was what it all came down to. Twenty years of marriage thrown away. "And the person I was on the phone with, was Darcy." She continued.

"Darcy? But you said when she lands?" I was confused. What does their divorce have to do with Darcy?

"Yeah, she's coming home to help with the divorce." She said her voice cracking on the last word.

"But she's supposed to be in Kenya for another 6 months. She said so last week." I flashed back to the discussion. I came home from school hoping to see Darcy there but she was no where to be found. My mother had told me that the school she was building had been behind schedule and she need to stay 6 more months to help and then she was going to help out at the school for the remaining few months.

"And I called her this morning, asking if she was going to be okay with this."

"So then why is she coming home?"

"Because your father is moving into an apartment across town and I'm going to be dealing with a lot of legal things with him. So there might be times when I won't be home to help you with school, or cook dinner for you, or anything else you need. That's where Darcy comes in. Plus I think it would be nice to have her home for a little. She has been gone for over a year now."

"But mom I'll be fine. I mean I'm in 11th grade advanced English and honors Algebra, History, and Biology. And if I need to make myself something I can, or I can go to the Dot, no biggie. Darcy doesn't need to come home just for me." I do miss her so it would be nice to have her around, but this is such an amazing opportunity and it would look great on her resume. I don't want her to have to leave.

"Clare, Darcy was the one who suggested she come home to help out me and your father."

"But there is no you and dad anymore, so what's the point?" I rhetorically asked while getting up grabbing my bag and storming out.

"Don't you need a ride?" My mother asked.

"I can walk." I said and closed the door behind me.

The walk wasn't too long, but I left a lot early than I usually did, so I got to school before most people. However, lucky for me, Adam and Eli were already there. Drew probably had practice this morning so Adam was dropped off early and Eli's always here early. I walked towards the bench they were sitting on. They turned their heads when they heard me approach them. Their faces showed surprise.

"Hey Clare" Adam greeted me.

"You're here early." Eli pointed out. "Doesn't your mom usually drop you off?"

"Yeah, but I didn't exactly want to sit in the car with her today."

"Why not? Did she insult Twilight?" Eli joked as I sat down. I stared at him with my eyebrows raised.

"Why does such great news have to be so bad?" I asked.

"What do mean?" Adam asked.

"My sister's coming home today-" Eli cut me off.

"Hold the phone. You have a sister, since when?" He asked. Do I really never talk about her?

"Since I was born She's in Kenya right now helping build a school. She not supposed be home for another six months, but I overheard my mom on the phone today and she's on a flight right now on her way back." I said.

"What's so bad about that? Don't you guys get along?" Adam asked.

"Yeah we get along most of the time but what's bad is the reason why she's coming home." I answered.

"So what's the reason?" Eli asked. I stared at the ground, and I could feel tears threatening to fall out of my eyes.

"She's uh- helping my parents- uh well my mom while she files… legal papers." I don't want to say the word. If I do then I have no doubt that I'll start to tear up.

"Legal papers for what exactly?" Adam asked worried.

I took a deep breath. "Divorce" My voice cracked, and tears started falling.

**Please review it'll help me update faster and I love getting feedback! :)**

** -xxActressgirlxx**


	2. Chapter 2

The day went by fast, and before I knew it, it was time for English. I took my seat behind Eli, and next to Adam, Eli turned around the second I did.

"You okay?" He asked.

"Yeah. I'm fine." I answered. It wasn't the whole truth. Actually it wasn't the truth at all. I wasn't fine. My parents are getting divorced and I can't do anything about it. Darcy is leaving Kenya because of it and I probably failed the Algebra test I had today because I couldn't stop thinking about it.

"No you're not. Don't lie to us, Clare. Tell us how you're feeling. We want to help." He said. Does he have some sort of lie detector built into him or am I just making it that obvious?

"We might not know what you're going through, but I think I can come pretty close." Adam said referring to him being transgender.

"Yeah. I can come pretty close too." Eli said, looking off into space. What did he mean by that? Before I could ask, the bell rang, and Miss Dawes started talking. For the twelfth time today I zoned out thinking about my parents.

I don't know how this could happen. They were always so happy together. They never fought until recently. And if they did fight it was over a couple minutes later, and we were a happy family again. That could still happen though right? This could all be a mix up and when I get home they'll be waiting for me. Hands joined together, and still in love. Did they ever fall out of love? Did I miss that part? Maybe they don't realize that they never fell out of love. Or maybe they did, and I knew but didn't want to accept it. Well it worked.

"Clare? Clare!" Eli yelled trying to get my attention. I looked up and realized the class was over and everyone was leaving.

"Huh?" I asked confused. Did I really zone out all period thinking about my parents?

"You coming? Class is over."

"I'll meet you outside." Adam said to Eli before leaving.

"Oh. Yeah. Right." I said getting up. We walked out the door and towards our lockers. His was two down from mine, but he stopped me before I reached my locker.

"So, Adam and I are going to the Dot. You wanna come? It might be something to get your mind off things." He offered. I want to, but Darcy's getting home tonight. Probably not till late. It is a long flight from Kenya to Toronto. I guess I can go for a little while.

"Uh, yeah. Why not?" I answered.

"Meet us out front in 5." He said as he started walking away,

"Kay." I walked over to my locker and got the books I would need for homework and studying. After a couple minutes of searching and checking that I had everything, I was on my way to the parking lot. When I walked out of the front doors I quickly spotted Eli and Adam leaning against Eli's unmistakable hearse, Morty.

"Hey" Eli said as I approached them. "You ready to go Clare Bear?" He asked throwing in my nickname Jenna gave me at the end.

'Ugh! How did you hear about that?" I asked.

"I didn't. It was Adam." I turned my head to Adam and gave him a death glare. He put his hands in the air, as if surrendering.

"Alli told Drew in one of their late night conversations. Drew told me."

"They're official now?" I asked. I remember Alli was obsessing over Drew, but I also remember that Drew wasn't very into Alli for a while. Then Alli got mad at him over something I never knew about.

"Yeah. Sucks for me. I get to hear their mushy conversations every night on the phone." Adam said.

"Isn't it your job to know who your best friend is going out with?" Eli asked.

"We haven't been talking much lately. Ever since she's been hanging around Jenna more, I've been steering clear."

"Hmm. So Clare Bear huh? How'd that one start?" Eli asked clearly amused.

"Well for your information, that nickname came from Jenna. You know the girl that stole my boyfriend and best friend."

"I'm sorry." Eli said sarcastically.

"Yeah, sure." I joked. Eli got into the drivers seat, while Adam got into the backseat, leaving the passenger seat for me. Sometimes I think Adam is trying to get Eli and me closer together, but that's probably just my imagination.

"So when's your sister getting back?" Adam asked from the seat behind me.

"I don't know. I'm guessing not till late. Kenya isn't exactly close." I answered.

"So what'd you say she was down there for? Building a school?" Eli asked still keeping his eyes on the road.

"Yeah. She got the offer about a year and a half ago. She accepted it right away cause she thought it'd uh… be a good way to get away from… everything." I said flashing back to everything Darcy had been through. Everything we had been through.

"What do mean get away?" Adam asked.

"Well… before she left, Darcy had a lot of… difficulties." I didn't exactly want to elaborate on that. Everything that happened had been hard on all of us. However if they asked I probably would explain.

"Care to elaborate on that?" Of course, Eli.

"Two years ago, while my parents and I were on a trip, Darcy faked an illness so she could go on this skiing trip with some of her friends. She went to a party and it ended badly." I took a deep breath before I continued. "Her boyfriend, Peter, wanted to go all the way with her but it went against her beliefs. She woke up the next morning next to Peter and thought she got drunk and gave in… but Peter knew he wasn't the one she had sex with."

"So then who was it?" Adam asked.

"She doesn't know." I heard Adam give a deep intake of breath. "After a while she started cutting herself and she told everyone that Mr. Simpson was… using her. As in, touching her and making her a real "teachers pet". She apologized after a while, but it went far and he got suspended from his teaching job until he was cleared. Obviously he didn't get fired, but he couldn't fully forgive Darcy. We all thought she was just going through stress, but when she tried to commit suicide we knew it wasn't just her being over dramatic. She went to a support group where she finally admitted she was… you know."

"Can I ask how she tried to commit suicide?" Eli almost hesitated to ask.

"She was going to jump off the roof of the school, luckily her friend Manny convinced her otherwise." I finished.

"Wow. So… is she better now?" Adam asked.

"Yeah. She got counseling, and attended a group for troubled teens at Degrassi." As I finished my sentence we pulled up to the dot. Eli parked the car and we walked inside. It wasn't too packed so we were able to sit where we always do. We ordered our drinks and fries and just talked about school and other random things we somehow brought up.

The time flew by and before we knew it, it was almost 6' o clock.

"That didn't happen!" Eli exclaimed.

"Your making it up." Adam agreed.

"I am not. It was the most embarrassing thing ever. I looked like I was obsessed with sex or something." I argued.

"So why didn't Alli have it? At least if they found it with her it'd make somewhat of sense, other the crazy Christian having it." Eli said sarcastically.

"I told you Alli and I dropped it in the bathroom and she shoved it in my bag. And I am not a crazy Christian." I laughed.

"Okay. Whatever you say." We all started laughing, but I stopped when the door opened.

"What?" Eli asked as him and Adam turned around at to see what I was looking at.

I stared at the person who had just walked into the Dot. She had brown hair highlighted with streaks of blonde that fell over her white camisole. Darcy had just walked into the Dot.

**I hope you liked it! I'll try to update soon. Possibly tomorrow? Only if you review! And if you have any suggestions please let me know!**

**Also are you familiar with the story Clare told Eli and Adam? The second one, not the one about Darcy. First person to answer correctly gets a shout out in the next chapter!**

** -xxActressgirlxx**


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry it took so long but here's the chapter, BE SURE TO READ THE NOTE AT THE BOTTOM.**

**Thank you so much for all the reviews! Keep going it only makes me update faster!**

**I'd like to give a shout out to reyes who figured out what story Clare was telling Eli and Adam at the Dot. It was the vibrator from the episode, "Man With Two Hearts".**

**Hope you enjoy the chapter! **

Darcy looked around the Dot, but her eyes stopped when they landed on mine. She walked over to me quickly with her normal strut. I stood up as she approached and opened my arms symmetrically to hers.

"Clare!" Darcy said embracing me.

"Darcy! How are you? How was Kenya?" I questioned.

"I'm great and it was awesome. The school's coming along great." We let go of the hug simultaneously and she took a look at me. "Gosh! I barely recognized you. No glasses, short hair, and you obviously let go of that uniform." She said noticing how much I've changed.

"Ha. What uniform?" Eli asked. With our little reunion going on I almost forgot about Eli and Adam. And of course Eli picked up on the uniform part of the discussion.

"Oh I'm sorry. Uh Darcy these are my friends, Eli and Adam. Eli, Adam this is my sister, Darcy." I introduced.

"Nice to meet you guys." Darcy said shaking their hands.

"You too." Adam said.

"Yeah we heard a lot about you." Eli said.

"Today" Adam finished off.

"So what about this uniform?" Eli asked again. Of course he was curious.

"Clare went to a private school before Degrassi-" She trailed off looking over at me. This was embarrassing. I hate that uniform now and don't know why I ever wore it to Degrassi. "Hey uh… is that my jacket?" She asked. I looked down and realized I was wearing her jean jacket. Alli had made me wear some of her clothes and I liked the look so much I ended up going through her closets and picking out some of my favorites. This jacket must have been one of them.

"Uh go ahead and sit down Darce." I said, trying to point her away from the jacket. I gestured to the empty chair next to mine as I sat down. Darcy sat down and looked around again.

"So what happened to the Dot? Last time I was here it was small and dark." She said.

"It burned down in the beginning of the summer and opened back up about a month ago."

"Burned down? Was everyone alright?" Darcy asked worried.

"Yeah everyone was fine."

"Wait this place burned down? How?" Adam asked.

"This girl Emma-" Darcy cut me off.

"Emma caused it? Of course she did." Darcy laughed.

"It was her first day and she didn't know how to work something and it like exploded or something."

"I'm lost. Who's Emma?" Eli asked.

"One of my friends." Darcy answered and looked around once more. Her eyes locked on the waiter standing at the counter cleaning the counter with a rag. "Is- is that Peter?" She asked.

The first thing that popped into my head when she asked the question was Mia. The day after Darcy left for Kenya Peter was already moving in on Mia.

"Uh, yeah it is. Why?" I asked as she began to get up and walk over to him. She can't be thinking about going out with him again, could she? He betrayed her and cheated on her the minute she turned her back. I turned around and saw Peter's eyes widen as she walked toward him. He walked around the counter and embraced her in a hug.

"Well that's an interesting hello." Eli commented watching them.

"I can't believe she's doing this." I said to myself, as I was watching them converse and smile.

"Doing what? Didn't they go out for a while?" Adam asked. I turned around in my seat to face towards Eli and Adam.

"Peter and Darcy dated for like a year and a half. He said he loved her, but they got in this huge fight right before she left for Kenya because she waited till the last second to tell him. She left on bad terms and a day later he was with Mia, who Darcy hates." I informed them.

"That's rough." Eli commented.

"Why does she hate her?" Adam asked.

"She had a child at thirteen. It went against her principles and might as well have started a war with her, saying how she made a huge mistake and she even cut Mia from the Power Squad. Obviously it's not as big of a war as you and Fitz, but still, it was a big deal.

"Does she know about Mia and Peter?" Eli asked.

"No. If she did do you think she'd be over there talking to him like she never even left." I said.

"They're not just talking." Adam said staring at Darcy and Peter. I quickly turned around and saw them locking lips. I couldn't even believe what I was seeing.

**Sorry it took so long and ended up being so short, but I had writers block and hardly any time to write. Field Hockey practice started this week and I have it everyday. The only day I have off is Sunday, but this weekend I was really busy and was hardly home at all. I promise I'll try and get the next chapter up soon, and try and make it longer. **

**I'll make a deal. I'll put the chapter up on the day I get 20 reviews. So review!**

** -xxActressgirlxx**


	4. SORRY! PLEASE READ

**SORRY!**

**I am extremely sorry I haven't updated. And even more that this isn't update. I know that in the last chapter I said that if I got 20 reviews I update right away, but I had NO IDEA I'd get the 20 reviews so quickly. I started writing the chapter as soon as I posted the last one. I had writers block for a couple hours. Then I continued writing the chapter and only got half way done. I would love to post what I have right now but I can't. Here are the reasons I have for not posting.**

**I've been up in Boston for my brothers hockey tournament and haven't had much time to write or really do anything. I tried writing in the car on the way up, but I was watching a movie (starring Jordan Todosey, Adam) and by the time it was over I only had about an hour left on my battery which went down really fast (In about 20 minutes). Son I couldn't write much.**

**Like I said before I had no idea I was gonna get the reviews so fast and was taking my time with the writing.**

**This is probably the best reason. My computer has a virus on it. IT SUCKS! I gave my brother my laptop and he came back 20 minutes later saying he couldn't get it to work no matter how many times he restarted it. I looked at it and it said I had a virus. I wouldn't be as mad as I am, but just 3 weeks ago I got a virus and took it to Staples, got an ANTI-virus software on it, and got it fixed. So now I can't even open my document. I don't want to retype it cause I had a lot and really liked what I had, plus I was almost finished writing it.**

**So once again I'm really sorry about the late update. I promise (really I do this time) that as soon as I get my computer fixed I will finish writing the chapter and post it IMMEDIATELY. I don't know when it will be now that schools starting and I'm gonna be really busy, but it will happen sometime soon. **

**PLEASE BE PATIENT WITH ME!**

** -xxActressgirlxx**


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